Not applicable
Not applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system for dispensing mitts having a thumbed mitt design from a disposable container. More particularly, the invention is directed to a system for dispensing dusting mitts for use in general household dusting and cleaning applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dispensing systems for paper products and thermoplastic gloves have long been available to the consumer to provide ready accessibility to articles that are generally one-time use items. Although the type of dispensing system for a given application is obviously dependent on the type of article involved, generally speaking, the design of such dispensing systems has involved balancing the desirability of easy release and ready accessibility of the articles contained within the dispenser, with such factors as unit cost, and the need to prevent the dispenser from releasing multiple items at one time. Other important design issues include dispenser capacity, and whether to cover or seal the unused articles during non-use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,543 discloses a dispenser for gloves made of sheet material wherein a finger of the glove protrudes through a slot. Gloves are removed from the dispenser by grasping the protruding finger and pulling the glove in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the glove. A securing device prevents multiple gloves from being removed at one time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,566 discloses a reusable dispenser for disposable child mitt wipes, which has a hinged lid. The mitt wipes can be removed through an open lid of the dispenser or through a recloseable access opening on the top of the dispenser.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,105 discloses a glove dispensing system, in which gloves are placed on a plate in a rectangular container having a shield and a flap. A spring can be included to bias the plate/gloves toward a dispensing aperture.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,621,788 discloses a pocket tissue package, in which a paperboard rectangular carton has a removable window section through which individual folded sheets of tissue are removed. The tissues are folded so as to present folded corners to be grasped by the fingers.
While the foregoing patents describe dispensers for gloves, tissues or mitt wipes, none of these patents teaches or suggests a system for dispensing dusting mitts having a thumbed mitt design as in our invention. Removing an article from a dispenser by grasping the body or edge of the article as in the prior art is more cumbersome than grasping and pulling an easily accessible thumb tab as in our invention, and is more likely to result in the wasteful removal of multiple articles simultaneously. Accordingly, a need has arisen for a simple and economical system for dispensing mitts, such as dusting mitts, having a thumbed mitt design.
Our invention addresses the foregoing needs in the art by providing a dispensing system for dispensing dusting mitts having a thumbed mitt design from a disposable container.
In one aspect, a dispensing device of our invention includes a container and a plurality of dusting mitts housed in the container. The container includes a bottom, a top, a front-side, a back-side and two lateral sides, in which the top is integrally connected to the back-side along a top/back-side seam, and has cover flaps to cover the front-side and both lateral sides. The top is free to pivot about the axis of the top/back-side seam between a closed position and an open position, and contains a perforation pattern that forms an access flap and dispensing opening when the perforations are fully torn or otherwise severed. The access flap is integrally connected to the front-side cover flap along a top/front-side flap seam, and is free to pivot about the axis of the top/front-side flap seam between a closed position and an open position in a direction opposite to the pivot direction of the top. Alternatively, the access flap may be integrally connected to the back side along the top/back side seam, or to a lateral side along a top/lateral side flap seam, provided that the access flap is so dimensioned as to provide ready access to the thumb portion of the dusting mitts within the container, when the access flap is in an opened position. When the access flap is connected to a lateral side along a top/lateral side flap seam, the access flap is free to pivot about the axis of the top/lateral side flap seam in a direction transversed to the pivot direction of the top.
Each of the plurality of dusting mitts is folded individually along its longitudinal axis, stacked inside the container and arranged to present the thumb of the dusting mitt as a removal tab. The dusting mitts are individually removable from the container by grasping the thumb of the top dusting mitt and pulling the thumb in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the dusting mitt.
Preferably, the dusting mitt dispensing system is manufactured from cardboard, paperboard and the like, and the dusting mitts housed in the container are preferably manufactured from woven or non-woven material. The dusting mitts themselves are the subject of a copending utility patent application Ser. No. 09/606,694 filed on Jun. 30, 2000, and three design patent applications, Ser. Nos. 29/125,759, 29/125,760 and 29/125,764, each also filed on Jun. 30, 2000. Each of these patent applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.